


New Felines

by MaoMaoLover123



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Multi, Original Character(s), Other, Platonic Relationships, Secret Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-01-31 14:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21447994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaoMaoLover123/pseuds/MaoMaoLover123
Summary: Purl is a freelance artist trying to make a name for herself. When she lands a job working for the King of Pure Heart Valley, she takes it, no questions asked. Well, she'll have plenty of questioning to do in this brand -new series of tails! From monster attacks to family meetings, Purl will learn that we all choose a path to take in life, and there's no shame in changing it. Some chapters carry over to the next, others are stand-alone stories that you can skip around. I hope you enjoy reading about Purl's stay in Pure Heart Valley.
Relationships: Mao mao/badgerclops
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first "Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart" fanfic. This was originally gonna be a self insert type story filled with Reader x Mao Mao fluff, but I decided to flesh it out with my OC, Purl. I finally decided to type up the first chapter after planning out over 30 chapters. (By the way, NEVER PLAN OUT THAT MUCH BEFORE POSTING THE FIRST CHAPTER. Just go with the flow) I don't know how frequently I'll update this series, but I'll try to not let it collect dust!

The sun shined through the parted sky blue curtains of the small window that fateful morning. The limited lighting revealed a small sleeping space, consisting of a small table in the center, the window, a bolted down dresser, and a small bed. Well, it was more of a cot, but it was just as comfy. The bed consisted of dark blue covers hiding blue polka dotted sheets. 

Under the sheets, a round creature stirred. A single orange eye peered out through the covers, squinting as it looked towards the window. Drawing itself back in, the creature slowly sat up in the cot. 

The covers and sheets fell, revealing a small, chubby gray cat sitting upright in the small cot. The cat had dark gray fur and a small ear piercing in the shape of a star. Rubbing her eyes with her paws, the cat let out a loud yawn. She proceeded to stretch in the effort to regain proper usage of her limbs, but ended up laying on her back, head facing the ceiling. The ceiling was made up of maps painted onto some wood. The feline stared up at it, following the lines that led to all sorts of towns.

After a few moments, she sat up once more, this time with her legs hanging off the edge of the bed. She was wearing a lavender nightgown with purple letters in big cursive text that read “Sleep is not just for the weak” printed across the front. She slowly slid off the now messy cot and walked over to the dress that rested below the window. She opened the bottom drawer and, using it as a stepping stool, climbed up to the top. 

She then pulled back the curtains, allowing more sunlight to fill the room. The view from the window showcased a lovely shot of the forest. Thick, tall trees with red and yellow leaves seemed to zoom past the moving train car as the cat looked out, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She could make out a small structure in the distance, a castle of sorts. This one didn’t seem like the ones from her storybooks, however, as it seemed to house an enormous pink heart-shaped gem on the top. 

‘Finally! I feel like I’ve been on this train forever…’ she thought as she let another yawn escape her lips. She slowly made her way back down the dresser and landed softly on the floor. Beside the cot rested a large suitcase, an isle, and a large paint set. She walked over to her suitcase, which had ‘Property of Purl Ayumi’ written in black marker across the front, and opened it. ‘What kind of place is it going to be? I couldn’t find anything about it in the libraries....’ she thought, pulling out a dark red hoodie and some jean shorts. ‘Maybe I should have thought of this before I spent money on this SIXTEEN HOUR train ride. Ugh, this better be a legit job or I’m gonna be stuck here for a while…’

Struggling a bit, Purl was finally able to get all of her luggage out of the train car. She emerged from the doorway, squinting as the sun reflected off the lenses of her glasses. She walked down the steps to the old, wooden platform below her, setting down her bags. Her heart started to beat furiously in her chest as she thought of all the paintings she’d created. ‘Guess not too many people come or go from here’ she thought. The station was completely empty; not even the ticketmasters were out. It had clearly not been in use for years. 

Purl pulled up her hood and took out her cell phone to check to see when her escort would arrive. ‘I didn’t even think I was going to get an escort.’ She read a few messages that the king had sent, then put the phone in her back pocket. 

The escort wasn’t due to come for ten minutes. 

Enough time to do some sketching.

Purl sat down next to her suitcase, opened it, and pulled out her travel-sized sketch pad, along with a pencil. The sketch pad was slightly worn down; several creases running down the front of the pad, a few ripped pages in the back, the back of the pad littered with bullet points and reminders of what she needed to draw. She opened the sketch pad to a clean page and placed the tip of her pencil on the paper.

30 minutes later…

Orange and red leaves littered the station as the cat sat alone on the floor. She had gotten bored of drawing trees and settled on reading. “Charlie & Phil: The Endless Road” was the most recent book in a series Purl had just recently binged through. She didn’t actually think she’d have time for reading once she came to Pure Heart Valley, but her escort was running late. Wishing she had at least rented a car for the occasion, Purl folded the corner of the page she read, closed the book, and stood up to look out at the castle. She was growing more and more skeptical of this commission every second she saw no sign of life approach. 

A loud scratching sound made Purl spin her head around towards the station doors, clutching her chest. The doors didn’t look as if anyone had touched them from the outside. Maybe something fell down inside? She scooted her belongings and herself a few inches away from the building as she felt a strong breeze go by. ‘Must have been my imagination playing tricks on me. Why am I so jumpy all the time?’ she thought, slowly looking away from the building. Calm once more, she sat back down, her hind legs dangling off the edge of the platform. Before she could pick up her book, she thought she heard a low growl coming from behind her. ‘Okay. This HAS to be real. But w-’

A loud roar sent a gust of wind so powerful that the station doors were violently ripped from their hinges, broken into splinters that scattered across the platform. Purl tried to hold onto the edge of the platform, but was blown onto the train tracks along with her luggage. As she picked herself up, she heard a loud crash come from the platform and looked up, seeing bits of the station thrown every which way. She moved her suitcase closer to the platform and stood on top of it to get a look at whatever caused the damage. She wished she hadn’t.

The creature was as big and as tall as the station itself. The creature was decorated with black, sharp spikes all across its body, spikes as tall as Purl resting on its head. Its skin a greyish brown color and bright blue eyes, a short tail with what appeared to be a spike ball at the end, and a mouth full of teeth, the creature locked its eyes with Purl’s.

Purl’s ears were pinned to her head, her eyes frozen in fear as the creature narrowed its eyes and slowly approached her. 

The sound of a roaring engine erupted through the air, making both heads turn towards the source. Some sort of flying vehicle screamed towards the creature, slamming into the side of its face. The creature was knocked back into what remained of the old station. As the aerocycle circled back towards the monster, a black cat jumped off and landed a few feet in front of Purl. The cat faced away from her, a red cape flapping in the wind. The sound of a weapon being unsheathed rang in her ears as the cat turned to her. “If you don’t want to get your head cut off, you should move!” he yelled. She blinked and looked at his sharp, green eyes. He wore a red belt and knee pads to match his cape.

“Wha-” she started, but was cut off by the roar of the creature and what Purl assumed to be blaster noises. They reminded her of the sci-fi movies she often found herself watching. She saw a large badger weilding a robotic arm cannon fire rounds at the monster. A small, blue bat flew over to her and the black cat with an eager expression on their face. 

“Adorabat, you’re on crowd control!” the cat said, running past the bat toward the creature. 

“But I thought-” the bat named Adorabat started.

“No ‘buts’!”

“There isn’t even a crowd to control!”

“ADORABAT!”

“Fine!”

Adorabat let out a groan, landing near Purl. She turned towards her, revealing a yellow heart on her chest. “Get away from the danger!” she yelled, hitting Purl on her head.

Purl broke from her trance, putting a paw on her head. “Hey! What was that for?” she said, confused as to why this child was hitting her.

“There’s a monster RIGHT. THERE. Get away from it!” Adorabat yelled, grabbing Purl’s paw that rested on her head and pulled it towards her. Purl climbed back onto the platform and followed the child a few meters away from the platform.

“So, you’re the painter?” Adorabat asked, landing next to Purl.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m the painter.” Purl replied.

They stood in silence, the only sounds coming from the battle in front of them. Purl didn’t know what she expected. Certainly not a child smacking and yelling at her. And that monster…

“Does this happen a lot? The monster attacks?” Purl asked, scratching the back of her neck.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?!” Adorabat flew up to Purl’s eye level and gasped in horror. “Attacks like this happen almost ALL THE TIME! You’ve never seen a monster before?”

“I didn’t say that! It’s just…” Purl started, but slowly closed her mouth. When was the last time she saw a monster? There was that one she saw yesterday on the bus. Or, was that a tree branch? She couldn’t remember. 

“I think the last time I saw one was too long ago to really remember it. Must not have been as big as that one.” she pointed to the spiked monster. It laid limp on the ground, burn marks and slashes covering its body. The black cat started to walk over to them while the badger ran over to the aerocycle.

“My apologizes, Ms. Ayumi! We would have gotten here sooner if SOMEBODY hadn’t left your welcome package in the kitchen.” He said, shooting a glare at the badger, who drove the aerocycle over to them.

“Dude, you were the one that left it in the kitchen and didn’t tell me where you-”

The cat threw his arms up, yelling “You are NOT blaming me for this, Badgerclops!” and then turned back to Purl.

“So...You three are my escorts?” she asked, looking at the three of them.

“Yep! I’m Adorabat. Hello!” Adorabat landed on Purl’s head, giving her an awkward feeling.

“ What’s up, man? Name’s Badgerclops.” Badgerclops stretched his robot arm over to Purl and shook her paw. As she shook his hand, all Purl could think about was his robot arm. ‘Don’t see that everyday…’

The black cat moved past Badgerclops and gave Purl a little bow. “I am Mao Mao, Sheriff of Pure Heart Valley. I shall be walking with you to the palace, as requested by King Snugglemange.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Purl blushed a bit at the gesture. Taking a deep breath, Purl straightened her glasses, wiped off the stray pieces of dirt on her knees, and crossed her arms.

“Hope you’re not this punctual all the time.”


	2. The Long Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao Mao and Purl, due to the size of the aerocycle, must walk to Pure Heart Valley. Many words are exchanged in a matter of 15 minutes.

“We have to WALK there?” 

Mao Mao was helping Badgerclops strap down Purl’s luggage to the aerocycle when she started to complain about the hike they’d have to take. He had told her that he would be walking with her while Badgerclops and Adorabat take her stuff to the inn and inform the king of her arrival.

“A nice hike after a long train ride helps to refresh the body! Besides, it's just a 15 minute hike.” Mao Mao responded, handing Badgerclops Purl’s suitcase. 

“Just go with it. You can’t win with him.” Badgerclops said, a smile forming on Purl’s face as Mao Mao growled.

“Fine. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get this job done.” Purl said, annoyed at the inconvenience. ‘Why didn’t I just take the commission at the library? It would have been closer and safer…’

“Be careful with my paints! Those are brand new!” she yelled. She removed her hood and waited for the sheriffs to strap down everything. She must have been deep in thought, because she didn’t notice Adorabat walk up to her.

“Mao Mao told me to give you this!” she exclaimed causing Purl to jump, being ripped away from her thoughts. The bat was holding a small, round red box tied tightly with white ribbon. Under the ribbon rested a tan envelope with the words ‘For Purl Ayumi” in fancy cursive lettering. 

“Thanks, Adorabat.” Purl said, taking her paws out of the pockets of the hoodie so the child could hand the gift to her. With that, the bat flew back over to the aerocycle where Badgerclops was starting the engine.

“Don’t get lost, Mao Mao.” Badgerclops joked.

“As a hero, I have a perfect sense of direction, unlike you!” Mao Mao pointed at his partner, pushing his cape out from in front of him.

They all said their goodbyes, except Purl, who had chosen to look at the path they were taking. Despite the recent attack she had witnessed, she had to admit that the valley seemed quite peaceful. A cool breeze flowed through the trees, lifting the leaves from their branches and scattering them across the ground. The air smelled clear as she took a deep breath. Birds chirped in the tree she stood beneath as she exhaled. The peace was disrupted by the aerocycle taking off through the sky, becoming a small blue light in a matter of seconds. 

Purl looked toward Mao Mao, who was now facing her, cape flapping in the breeze. 

“You ready?” Purl asked, putting the box underneath her arm.

“Of course I am. Let’s go!” Mao turned away from her and started walking forward. 

She ran up to his side and matched his pace. 

The silence lasted for seven minutes. Purl really didn’t know what to talk about. All she could think about was how nice the valley was and how this job probably wasn’t worth all the trouble. A village that didn’t show up on any of the maps she had, in a valley filled with monsters? Seemed shady. At the same time, she wondered what it looked like. She hadn’t seen a clear glimpse of the castle, so she didn’t really know what to expect.

“First time seeing a monster?” Mao Mao asked, letting out a small chuckle.

The question seemed kinda late for him to ask. It was also really out of the blue, seeing as they weren’t talking before. 

“What?” Purl tilted her head in confusion.

“You were like a deer in headlights when we came! What did you think standing around was gonna do?!”

“A spikey monster burst out of a train station...what did you EXPECT me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe RUN!”

Purl rolled her eyes at the sheriff. 

“My question still stands. Have you seen a monster back where you came from?”

“Well, it’s been a while…”

Yes, Purl had seen a monster before. More times than she could count on both paws. But it had been years since they had ever threatened her village.

“I wanted to ask you something, Ms. Ayumi-”

Purl stopped and rubbed her temples, Mao Mao turning around in confusion. “Okay. I’m gonna need you to stop calling me that.”

“What? Why wouldn’t anyone want to be addressed by their formal name? wear it PROUDLY!” Mao yelled, Purl’s ears drooping down.

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Purl sighed looking at the ground. “I don’t really want to talk about it. You can just call me Purl, okay?”

“Ah, the jewel of the ocean. It’s-”

“Nope, P-U-R-L. Like the stitch used in clothing.”

Silence.

“Yeah. Boring, right? Of all the things to name someone, my parents picked something as bland as that…”

“Well, every name holds a unique story.” he said. His voice sounded less harsh somehow.

“I guess…”

They resumed their hike, the awkward conversation ending abruptly. ‘Wait, did he forget his question?’ Purl thought just as Mao Mao stopped in front of her.

“This view never gets old. Get up here!”

“Geez, Sheriff, I’m right…”

Purl gazed in awe of the valley. A bright pink heart-shaped gem sat atop a white castle. Several buildings were clustered around the castle. To the left the village was a river that went as far as the eye could see. Surrounded by woods, the village was cut off from the rest of the world, in its own personal bubble.

Then, realization kicked in. She would have to show her art to a king. A real KING. Yes, she read the name of the person that sent her the request for the commission, but she honestly thought it was just a joke name. A wave of anxiousness hit her like a bullet train as the sheriff started down the hill.

“Not much longer now! You’ll be dropped off at the king’s throne room and be able to discuss your previous agreement.” He was halfway down the slightly steep hill when he realized Purl wasn’t with him.

“Purl? What’s the hold-up?”

Her gaze slowly moved down to Mao Mao, who had turned towards her. Her ears had flopped down, eyes shifted to the ground, box gripped tightly under her arm. She opened her mouth to speak, but simply exhaled, plopping herself down where she stood.

“I’m sorry…” she muttered, placing the box beside her and putting her head in her paws.

Mao Mao wore a look of confusion as he slowly walked back towards her. He stood next to her and waited for her to speak. When she didn’t, he crossed his arms and sat down next to her.

“What’s wrong? Nervous?”

“A little…” her voice was muffled by the hoodie she tried to talk through. “I’m sorry, I’m a mess…”

“Well, I’ve seen bigger messes than you-wait, NOT SAYING YOUR FEELINGS ARE INADEQUATE...or anything.” he felt awkward and out of place next to this girl. He usually was able to control a situation, but breakdowns where another story. Needless to say, he didn’t know the best words to say. 

His ears perked up to Purl’s sniffles. Was she crying?

“Look, I don’t know you. You don’t know me. All I know for sure is that it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. Just know that whatever you’re feeling now will pass soon enough.” Mao looked away from her for a moment, then slowly moved his arm towards her.

Purl lifted her head once she felt a few pats on the back. She locked eyes with the sheriff, a small smile forming on her face. ‘Maybe the sheriff and I have more in common than I thought…’ She took a deep breath, exhaled, and began to rub her eyes.

“I think I’m good.”

“Are you good enough to start walking again? It should be just a few more minutes until we get to the village?”

“I think so, Mao-”

The ground they sat on burst, sending them flying down the hill. At the foot of the hill, they tried to collect themselves. 

“What the-” Mao unsheathed his katana and moved in front of Purl, who was now sitting up, staring in fear at the beast that stood at the top of the hill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading Chapter 2! Comments are greatly appreciated!
> 
> FYI, it's not my intention to ship Purl with Mao Mao or Badgerclops. My friend, after she read the draft for this, said she shipped them and I had to tell her "No. The only real romance that might pop up is some BadgerMao!" I might have to make that clear as we go along. 
> 
> Oh, and remember how I said I wrote a bunch of chapter outlines? We're only at chapter 2, but I've now written 40 chapter outlines for this story.
> 
> I must be stopped XD


	3. The Ambush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The deputies report to the king while Purl and Mao Mao deal with a few new visitors.

King Snugglemange had been eating a bowl of grapes when Adorabat burst through the door, startling him. The bowl fell towards the ground, but was caught by a robotic arm. Retracting his arm, Badgerclops walked in and proceeded to pop a few grapes in his mouth, the king shooting him a glare. 

“Why sheriff! Am I correct in presuming that my painter is here?” the king sat up in his chair and tried to look behind the large badger.

“Oh, no man. She’s with Mao Mao.” he responded, taking a pawful of grapes and shoving them in his mouth. 

Adorabat landed on his shoulder, looking at Quinton as he walked past them. The small bird was holding a bowl of grapes- the same bowl of grapes Badgerclops had been eating from. Badgerclops frantically looked at his paws, confused as to what just happened.

“Pardon me?”

“Yeah...Mao thought that it would be a nice idea to walk Purl here since she probably wasn’t going to be energetic enough to go straight to work.” Badgerclops scratched the back of his neck, narrowing his eyes at the bird, who now stood next to the king’s chair. 

The king’s eye twitched.

“So...you came all this way to tell me...that the artist I spent MONTHS searching for ISN’T EVEN HERE YET!? What am I supposed to do with the horderves I had prepared?” he gestured towards the large table filled with all sorts of small fruits, crackers and cheeses.

“She’s gonna be here in a few minutes!” Badgeclops rolled his eye in annoyance. He then started to stare at the table. 

“Don’t even THINK about going near that table, sheriff! It is all for my guest.” The king rose from his throne and made his way down the stairs. “Hopefully she can start work right after she explores the vibrant flavors in this spread!”

“She’s gonna love it here!” Adorabat exclaimed, jumping off Badgerclops’ shoulder and twirled through the air.

‘Why the heck did I come here?!’ Purl thought as she ran through the tall grass. Heavily panting, she tried her best to hang on to the gift as she ran around a boulder. A quick glance back and she was hoping there was a gym in town. 

The monster was close enough for her to hear the gnashing of its teeth. It actually wasn’t that big; it probably stood as tall as Badgerclops, maybe a bit taller. However, what it lacked in size it made up for in speed. It was covered in orange scales, thin red spikes dawning its head. Its claws dug deep into the ground, clumps of soil flung through the air as it ran.

‘I can’t keep running like this! I need to-’

Her foot got caught on a root, sending her landing on her stomach. The gift landed near the base of the tree with a thud. Purl groaned reached into her pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a sword handle without a blade. Getting into a crouched position, she pushed a button on the handle. A purple light emitted from it, taking the form of a dagger blade. ‘I guess she was right about one thing…’ 

As the monster continued to charge towards her, she jumped onto the side of the tree she landed near, pushed off it, and drew the dagger forward. She let out a low pitched battle cry, slashing the monster’s neck. The monster skidded to a halt, being enveloped in the tall grass. Purl landed on a nearby rock and pressed the button to retract the blade. The purple light died down, leaving the handle behind. Purl placed the handle back in her pocket and was about to climb off when, in the corner of her eye, she saw another monster charging towards her. 

“LUNAR SLASH!!!”

She turned around to see Mao Mao up in the air wielding his now glowing katana. He made a slashing motion with it and all Purl could see was yellow light. She heard the roar of the creature, felt a rush of air hit her, and noticed the light start to disappear. The monster was gone; what took its place was Mao Mao, cape waving through the wind, katana in paw.

“Were there anymore of them?” Purl asked, climbing off the boulder. 

“No, that was it…” he responded, resheathing his katana and walking to the foot of the boulder. 

Almost out of nowhere, Purl fell to her paws and knees and started to wheeze heavily. Mao Mao jumped back in surprise.

“Why didn’t I listen to my dad?! I KNEW I should have taken that commission at the public library, but NOOOO! I just had to take the job farthest from home...” 

“...are you hurt?”

Purl lifted her head up to see a concerned look on the cat’s face. He then inched a bit closer. She sat on her hind quarters and rubbed her eyes. “Not really.”

“We should keep moving. All that action might have alerted other monsters to our presence.” he motioned for her to get up, flicked a few pieces of dirt off his shoulder, and walked past her. Then, he suddenly stopped and spun back around towards her. “I just remembered! Your last name is Ayumi!”

She stood up and dusted off her shorts. Why had he only just now come to this conclusion? After all that ‘Ms. Ayumi’ business earlier, he had clearly been briefed on her. “Yeah? You already knew that. Did that monster hit you in the head or something?”

He narrowed his eyes at her comment, but continued. “I noticed that your dagger’s handle had the insignia of a clan on the side. Couldn’t make out what it looked like.”

Purl felt the handle in her back pocket. “It’s a single claw surrounded by flames.”

Purl wished she hadn’t taken that dagger. She could have picked any weapon to take with her, but her father suggested the dagger just in case she ran into any trouble. She doesn’t even specialize in swordsmanship. If she had no self-control, she probably would have stormed out of that clearing right back to the train station. Or, what used to be the train station. There wasn’t any point though; her mother had booked the train car a month in advance. Not too many trains have routes that pass this valley, so it took quite a bit of convincing- and money- to secure safe transportation. Her parents had suggested that they fly her there, but Purl insisted on going alone. She just needed a break from her family. Now, here she was, getting ready to explain ‘Yes, I’m from THAT Ayumi family.’ 

Letting out a heavy sigh, she turned around and walked to the base of the tree the present was laying at, placed it under her arm, and walked back to the sheriff. 

“Like you said, we should get going.” she walked passed him, keeping her eyes on the castle in the distance.

Mao Mao rushed to get ahead of her. He could have swore he saw Purl scowling. Not at him. He had only asked a simple question. No, there must have been something else that happened. He shrugged it off as nothing he needed to delve into at the moment. It wouldn’t be too long before he dropped her off at the castle and moved on to his nightly patrol of the village. He just hoped that no other surprises would arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, this was the trickiest and shortest chapter I had to write. I've never written a fight scene before, so it took me a while to get it right. 
> 
> I'll try to not take as long with the updates. I wasn't as motivated to post this before, but now I'm ready to keep the ball rolling!
> 
> Also, I'd LOVE to hear what you actually think of the story so far. If you have time, please leave a comment down below.
> 
> See you in Chapter 4!


	4. The Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sheriff and the Artist meet up with the rest of the Sheriff's Department in front of the king's castle and catch up.

The village square was full of life this time of day. The sun was at the highest point in the sky and the Sweetiepies took advantage of it. Many were out admiring the clouds that scattered across the sky, while others went about their daily routines: merchants were advertising their products to potentially get a sale; children laughed as they were let out to recess; the mail mole dropped off packages on the doorsteps of houses. Purl could smell the baked goods slipping through the cracks of a nearby bakery as she and Mao Mao made their way through the square.

“The king will be waiting in the throne room for you to discuss the terms of your employment. Afterwards, you’ll be staying in an inn nearby.” Mao Mao explained.

Purl was only half listening, for she was distracted by the inhabitants of the town. She’d never seen anything like them before. A green mouse with glasses and a clover on its stomach? A pink...rhino thing? A yellow mouse with a pink heart on her cheek carrying-

“Oh, cupcakes!” Purl exclaimed, catching the attention of the mouse. Mao Mao’s train of thought was derailed by the interruption. Annoyed, he turned around to see the gray feline about to accept a cupcake from the mouse.

“NO cupcakes!” he yelled, startling both of them.

“It’s just a free sample, sheriff! New people ne-” the mouse started before the sheriff pulled Purl away from her. Before she could protest, he said “The king has a spread waiting for you. I’ll need to apologize for the delay…” He let go of her arm and proceeded towards the castle.

The two felines were silent the whole way up the never-ending staircase. As they grew closer to the top, Purl felt butterflies fill her stomach. At that moment, it hit her: she was still holding the gift Adorabat had given her at the train station. _‘Perfect distraction!’_ she thought as she carefully untied the white ribbon. She lifted the lid of the round box to reveal a travel-sized sketchbook with a heart sticker on the front. Next to it laid a small pencil and a handheld pencil sharpener.

“Adorabat insisted on getting that for you.”

Purl realized that Mao Mao was now beside her, looking over her shoulder. Surprised, she instinctively side-stepped away from the sheriff. She scratched the back of her neck and, believing she probably hurt the sheriff’s feelings, set the box down and stuck the ribbon in her hoodie pocket. He awkwardly watched her get down on her knees, place both paws on the ground and bow her head. “I’m SO sorry about that! That was incredibly rude of me, especially after you went through all the trouble of bringing me here!”

The sheriff’s stance stiffened. He glanced at the stairs ahead of them, then quickly focused his eyes on Purl. “You...don’t need to do that” he finally opened his mouth to say. Purl now had butterflies in her stomach AND felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She let out a nervous chuckle as she gathered the box and her composure. “Sorry! I…” She looked down at the opened box, then back at Mao Mao. “I like it.”

“Apologizing profusely?”

“Wha-NO! The sketch book!”

“Adorabat thought you’d like it, since you’re an artist and all…”

With that, they continued up the stairs in silence. _‘Way to go, Purl. You always manage to make matters worse!’_ she mentally face-palmed. She really needs to get out of the house more.

* * *

Adorabat had been drawing a picture of Badgerclops, who was sleeping in the grass, when she heard footsteps come from the staircase leading away from the castle. She turned her head and her eyes widened. “Hey, Mao Mao!” she exclaimed, dropping her crayon and flapping her wings excitedly.

The sheriff’s ears bobbed up and down as he reached the top of the stairs. As soon as his little deputy came into view, a smile formed on his previously neutral face.

“Hey Adorabat.”

“Look what I drew!” the blue bat grabbed the piece of paper she had been drawing on and eagerly ran over to him. She held paper out for him and he gently took it into his paws.

“Ha! Looks just like him.” he said, a small chuckle escaping his lips. He patted his little deputy on the head, making a light blush flood her cheeks. His smile, however, didn’t stay. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that no one was coming up the steps. Rolling his eyes, he handed the drawing back to Adorabat and walked back towards the stairs.

As he grew closer to them, he could hear heavy panting. ‘Oh brother’ he thought, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently when he finally reached the foot of the stairs. The grey feline had beads of sweat rolling down her forehead as she finally reached the top. Her slow, heavy pants continued as she walked past the sheriff. Stopping a few feet away from him, she took a deep breath and exhaled -louder than she thought she was going to- and bent over, paws resting on her knees. “Why…” she turned to Mao Mao, who had a displeased look on his face. “...are there so many freakin’ stairs?”

“It’s not THAT many.” he replied with a sigh, rubbing his temples. “Come on. The king awaits your arrival.”

“Yeah…” she caught her breath and stood back up, moving the gift box to the opposite side of her body. She was about to catch up with the sheriff, who didn’t wait for her before continuing towards the castle, when Adorabat flew over to her.

“Oh, thank you for getting me the sketchbook, Adorabat!” she said, hugging the box. “It was very sweet of you.”

“You really like it?! Yay!” Adorabat cheered, doing a little twirl in midair.

Adorabat landed and walked with Purl to Mao Mao, who had started poking an unconscious Badgerclops. _‘How can he just fall asleep on the ground like that?’_ Purl thought as she tapped the sheriff on the shoulder.

“Um, what’s the king like?” she asked, scratching the back of her neck.

“You’re about to meet him.” he grumbled. “I’m...sorry, did I do something wrong?”

“I just prefer to arrive punctually to the king’s quarters!” he barked at her.

Purl took a step back. “Geez! It’s not like I was the one who was late…” she rolled her eyes and looked back down at the box. She decided to take the contents of the box and put it in the large front pocket of her hoodie. She could feel the crimson eyes of the sheriff drilling holes into her forehead as she tried not to look at him.

“Badgerclops, GET UP!”

Purl looked up to see Mao Mao shoving Badgerclops in the shoulder. He groaned and slowly blinked at Mao Mao, sitting up to look at him properly.

“What took you guys so long?” he asked the sheriff, rubbing the sleep out of his eye and letting out a loud yawn. “We thought you’d be here 15 minutes ago…”

“We came as quickly as we could on foot. Ran into a few monsters, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle!” Mao Mao replied, puffing out his chest.

“Don’t you mean nothing we couldn’t handle? I was there too you know…” Purl sent an annoyed look Mao Mao’s way, which he returned.

“Nevertheless, we are here now! Did you at least alert the king of her arrival?” he questioned, tapping his foot.

“Yeah, man. Wait-you thought I wouldn’t? It was, like, the only job I had to do today.” Badgerclops stood up and stretched his arms. When he saw his friend take a rather deep sigh, he held up a finger towards him. “Complain one more time, and I’m cancelling that thing we were gonna do later.”

Mao Mao opened his mouth, then closed it, grumbling something Purl couldn’t make out.

“Let’s get this over with, alright?” he said grumpily, turning towards the large set of doors that awaited them just a few meters away. Purl followed closely behind him as he increased his pace. He pulled one of the doors open and stepped aside.

“Go on in. His royal highness awaits you at the end of the hall.” Mao Mao said, looking at Purl sternly, causing her to shrink back.

“Um, thank you, sheriff. It was nice to-” Purl was cut off by Mao Mao lightly pushing her forward and shutting the door. “...meet you?”

Purl stared at the door for a moment and rolled her eyes. _‘Great first impression, Purl…’_ she thought as she proceeded down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!!! Now that I'm finished with high school, I have more time to work on this story. I originally wanted to combine this with the next chapter, but decided I waited too long to do that and will just write that one separately. I also decided that, due to the amount of ideas surrounding Purl increasing, I will have this story be around 23 or 24 chapters long. I literally think about my character everyday and ideas surrounding her backstory keep changing the direction of the main story, so I am sticking to what I have right now and delving in on those subjects in the form of a drabble collection that will take place in between chapters 23 and 24. 
> 
> Please leave a comment and share any feedback with me. Stay safe out there!!!


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